TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors deterring dentistry, medical, pharmacy, and social science undergraduates from pursuing nursing as a healthcare career
T2 - A cross-sectional study in an Asian university
AU - Wu, Ling Ting
AU - Wang, Wenru
AU - Holroyd, Eleanor
AU - Lopez, Violeta
AU - Liaw, Sok Ying
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/1/26
Y1 - 2018/1/26
N2 - Background: Globally more registered nurses need to be recruited to meet the needs of aging populations and increased co-morbidity. Nursing recruitment remains challenging when compared to other healthcare programs. Despite healthcare students having similar motivation in joining the healthcare industry, many did not consider nursing as a career choice. This study aims to identify the deterrents to choosing nursing among healthcare undergraduates by examining the differences in the factors influencing healthcare career choices and nursing as a career choice. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using a 35-parallel items instrument known as Healthcare Career Choice and Nursing Career Choice scale. Six hundred and four (n = 604) first year medical, pharmacy, dentistry and social science students from a university in Singapore completed the survey. Results: Nursing as a career was perceived by healthcare students to be more likely influenced by prior healthcare exposure, the nature of the work, job prospects, and social influences. Lack of autonomous decision making, perceived lower ability to make diagnosis, having to attend to patients' hygiene needs, engendered stigma, and lack of parental support were identified as deterring factors to choosing nursing as a career. Conclusion: An understanding of the deterrents to choosing nursing as career allows policy makers and educational leaders to focus on recruitment strategies. These include providing more exposure to nurses' roles in early school years, helping young people to overcome the fear of providing personal hygiene care, promoting nurses' autonomous nursing practice, addressing gender stigma, and overcoming parental objection.
AB - Background: Globally more registered nurses need to be recruited to meet the needs of aging populations and increased co-morbidity. Nursing recruitment remains challenging when compared to other healthcare programs. Despite healthcare students having similar motivation in joining the healthcare industry, many did not consider nursing as a career choice. This study aims to identify the deterrents to choosing nursing among healthcare undergraduates by examining the differences in the factors influencing healthcare career choices and nursing as a career choice. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using a 35-parallel items instrument known as Healthcare Career Choice and Nursing Career Choice scale. Six hundred and four (n = 604) first year medical, pharmacy, dentistry and social science students from a university in Singapore completed the survey. Results: Nursing as a career was perceived by healthcare students to be more likely influenced by prior healthcare exposure, the nature of the work, job prospects, and social influences. Lack of autonomous decision making, perceived lower ability to make diagnosis, having to attend to patients' hygiene needs, engendered stigma, and lack of parental support were identified as deterring factors to choosing nursing as a career. Conclusion: An understanding of the deterrents to choosing nursing as career allows policy makers and educational leaders to focus on recruitment strategies. These include providing more exposure to nurses' roles in early school years, helping young people to overcome the fear of providing personal hygiene care, promoting nurses' autonomous nursing practice, addressing gender stigma, and overcoming parental objection.
KW - Career choices
KW - Healthcare
KW - Nursing recruitment
KW - Perceptions of nursing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041120592&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12909-018-1118-1
DO - 10.1186/s12909-018-1118-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 29373973
AN - SCOPUS:85041120592
SN - 1472-6920
VL - 18
JO - BMC Medical Education
JF - BMC Medical Education
IS - 1
M1 - 23
ER -